What's up with Tracy Anderson?

First off I would like to say Thank you for all of your wonderful comments about tapering.  I have decided to modify mine a little and follow along with Maia's tapering plan.  This woman is awesome and has ran Grandma's Marathon 3 times!  So Thanks Maia!

That brings me to my next point.  We the Trio are trying to find the perfect running outfit for our race.  We are thinking about running in these shorts below.  I have never ran in shorts like this before so I will be testing them out on my 13 miles today.  Hopefully all goes well. PS photo taken with my phone so it's a little blurry. 

I also have been craving smoothies because there are so many blogs out there making smoothies all the time.  I just needed to make my own.  SO I tried this one out.  Muscle Nog protein powder, ice, banana and almond milk.  It was so good!    Hit the spot!

And here is the easiest recipe ever for peanut butter protein balls.

1 cup Peanut Butter (could use almond butter but my husband only likes the peanut)
1 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup of honey
Mix together is a bowl then roll into balls.  I like to put mine in the freezer.

That's it!  Super easy and way tasty!

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I know, I am getting closer to my point but I also wanted to share my excitement about making  Overnight Oats for the first time.  Kath Eats Real Food is always making them and they look so good that I just had to give them a try.  I was going to eat them before my run but thought they would be too filling so I stuck with my grahams and am saving this for after.

Before my run I am trying to do everything that I will be doing before the race.  And that means a slice of pizza for dinner.  My man is out of town so I walked up the street and got me a slice of veggie pizza.  It was ok, not the best but usually that is what you get when you order a slice. 

Alright, finally onto Tracy Anderson.  Because I am a huge advocate for her workout videos people are always asking me if she really works?  Many people have blogged about her and talked about her nutrition. Skinny Runner also did a great post about her Method.  Here are my thoughts... I truly believe that this girl has got it going on.  Yes, she is very LA but she is also a business woman.  A very successful one at that.  I first heard about her through Kelly Ripa.  I was watching Regis and Kelly and it was all about fitness and gyms around the city.  Kelly took the camera crew for a workout class with Tracy.  They did all sorts of cool workouts I have never even thought about doing before.  And after seeing Kelly Ripa's smokin body I was hooked.  I knew that her Method had to be doing something right.  So I researched further.

 

First off I looked into her gym, it was way out of my budget so I did the next best thing.  Ordered her Tracy Anderson Design Series.  It comes with 3 different discs, the best part is that you don't have to buy weights or anything.  All you need is a chair and some kind of mat.  I started out with disc one, it was tougher than I thought. Basically Tracy believes that all woman can have smokin hot bods if they know how to do the right moves.  She is always talking about lifting your bum.  Which for me I love!  I was doing the Tracy videos about 4-5 times a week but once my marathon training kicked in I had to bump it down to only 1-2 times a week.  I really like disc 1 and 2.  Disc 2 is my favorite and as for disc 3, it is hard so that is why I don't do it as much.

Within a few weeks I really began to see a change in my body.  One of the biggest changes for me was no more back pain!  From about my senior year in high school until the past 6 months I was always dealing with lower back pain. I even threw my back out last year, and it was extremely painful.  I couldn't even get out of bed to walk to the bathroom.  I had to crawl!  I knew what the main issue was and that was I was strong everywhere else except my back and bum were on the weaker side.  It was always hard for me to really workout those areas as much as the rest of my body.  And that is where Tracy came in.  Because she focuses so much on lifting your bottom she made work outs that where way more fun than just doing superman's all day.  And ever since the end of January my back pain has been GONE!  It has been so wonderful.  And if I feel a little something coming back I will know I just need to do a Tracy workout and I am back on track.

I also love her for many other reasons.  My arms stay in great shape and I hardly ever use weights.  Her arm workouts are awesome.  Yes you feel a little silly at first but after, you can really see her method working.  I also feel the same way about her abs and standing abs section.  She is always movin' and a groovin' and at first I was thinking I look so ridiculous, even in the comfort of my own home but after getting the moves down, I loved it!

I guess most of the concern comes from her diet plan.  This is something that I don't follow.  I don't even read into what she does for her dieting but I know that everyone is different and my body requires a different nutritional regime because of all of the miles that I log.  Many say her diet plan is crazy and unrealistic but I know she does whatever works for her.  I also think she is really just encouraging people to watch what they are putting in their mouths.  That we should focus on healthy foods and not sweets and fats all of the time. I am not saying that I know her or what she is thinking but I like to give her the benefit of the doubt because I use her at home method and really truly believe that it works.  She has toned my body so much that I can only thank her.  If I could afford her gym I would be there!! 

So yes, I encourage all of you to check out her website and her online videos.  There is a reason that celebrities love her! She is good as what she does!

Oh and one last thing. I have not tried her newest DVD Metamorphosis yet but I hope to soon!